VMware Fusion 8, Pro ships today with Windows 10 support

updated 10:49 am EDT, Tue August 25, 2015

by MacNN Staff

Graphical improvements, OS X El Capitan support included in Fusion 8

VMware has released an update to its Fusion virtualization tool series, introducing Windows 10 support for the first time. Unveiled one week after Parallels performed a similar launch, Fusion 8 and the more advanced Fusion 8 Pro variant are both able to provide access to Windows 10 from within OS X, as well as including support for OS X El Capitan both as the host operating system and as a virtual machine, so the public beta can be tested without disrupting the existing OS X installation.

The graphics engine used in Fusion 8 is said to be up to 65 percent faster than the previous version, and includes support for both DirectX 10 and OpenGL 3.3, and high resolution displays, such as a Mac connected to a 4K screen or the iMac Retina 5K. MacBook users will also benefit from efficiency savings, allowing Fusion 8 to use less battery power than in previous versions, with adaptive graphics switching to provide high performance while least impacting the battery, as well as Force Touch support.

Those starting up a new virtual machine will find a streamlined setup and configuration process, using a single menu for creating, importing, and migrating from Boot Camp. As for the virtual machines themselves, Fusion 8 can support up to 16 virtual CPUs, 64GB of RAM, 8TB virtual disks, and up to 2GB of video memory.

Fusion 8 Pro adds on top the ability to install various other operating systems, native integration with VMware vCloud Air for backing up local machines, IPv6 NAT support, and the option of using third-party tools such as Chef, Hashicorp Vagrant, and Docker Machine for automated machine and container deployment.

Fusion 8 and Fusion 8 Pro are out now, priced at $80 and $200 respectively. Owners of Fusion 7 and Fusion 7 Pro who acquired the software between July 29 and August 25 are able to perform an electronic upgrade to version 8 at no cost. Other Fusion 7 and Fusion 6 customers will be able to upgrade to Fusion 8 for $50, or Pro for $120.

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VMware wants another $45 to upgrade. I understand this is a discounted rate and they need money to continue development but it'd be nice if they also figured out a way to give up a discount on Windows 10 for those who don't have an existing Windows 7.1+ license.

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